Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington, DC Aug. 17, 1999
(Phone: 202/358-1726)
James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
RELEASE: 99-94
NASA TO HOST HOUSTON CONFERENCE EXPLORING
COMMERCIAL INTEREST IN SPACE STATION LIVING QUARTERS
NASA has invited private industry to Houston from Aug. 24 -
26 to participate in a conference that will explore potential
commercial interest in a government and industry partnership to
build the crew habitation module for the International Space
Station.
"NASA is dedicated to the commercial use of space and
fostering private enterprise on the new frontier," said Dan Tam,
Special Assistant to the NASA Administrator for Commercialization.
"This invitation is one way for us to actively pursue the ideas
that businesses may have for using a living area in space for
profit-driven motives. On Earth, it has been demonstrated time
and time again that with market support, private industry can do a
better job than the government. We expect the same will be true
in space."
NASA needs a crew-quarters module that will house at least four
crew members. The module should also include bedrooms, a kitchen,
a pantry, a dining and meeting area, videoconferencing and
entertainment equipment, windows, storage space, exercise
equipment and a medical examination room.
The Habitation Module Commercialization Conference will be
held at the Nassau Bay Hilton and Marina Hotel, 3000 NASA Road 1,
Houston. The conference will explore the formation of a
commercial consortium that would own, use and maintain all or part
of the module. NASA would be one of many module users and
customers of the consortium.
Current station plans specify that the module be a
traditional metallic design similar to other International Space
Station modules. A more recent NASA concept has proposed an
innovative, space fabric version of the living quarters module.
At this conference, participants will consider existing designs
and new ideas for the module. Innovative concepts for enhanced
habitation capabilities benefiting both NASA and commercial
partners are especially sought.
The habitation module will be launched from the Space Shuttle
and attached to the station in November 2004. In addition to
aerospace industries, NASA is hoping to attract other businesses
and investors to spur innovation in the commercial use of space.
These non-aerospace companies may have ideas related to
sponsorship, space tourism, entertainment, advertising, education
or technology development. This activity will serve as a
pathfinder for other commercial uses of the International Space
Station and commercial involvement in other NASA programs.
"We really want this conference to be a brainstorming session
with businesses and investors of all kinds and hope it leads to a
business relationship between NASA and a commercial consortium.
NASA is open to any and all ideas that are of benefit to both
private enterprise and the government," Tam said.
News media are invited to attend the full sessions of the
conference. More information and registration information is
available on the Internet at:
http://technology.jsc.nasa.gov/habconference
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